Five Questions About Virginia vs. Louisville With Louisville Cardinals On SI

Matt Newton | Oct 10, 2024

Jamie Rhodes-Imagn Images

Ahead of the week 7 matchup between Virginia and Louisville on Saturday at Scott Stadium, we connected with Matthew McGavic of Louisville Cardinals On SI to answer a few questions about the Cardinals and get his thoughts about this weekend's game. Learn more about this year's Louisville team by reading McGavic's answers below:

1. After a good 3-0 start to the season, Louisville comes into this game having suffered back-to-back one-score losses. What's the common denominator in those close defeats for the Cards and what do they need to do better?

Louisville just can’t stop shooting themselves in the foot. We started to see glimpses of this in their game against Georgia Tech, where they were able to win but looked pretty sloppy doing so in the process with penalties and in general clunkiness. Against Notre Dame, early turnovers put them behind the eight ball early, head coach Jeff Brohm was way too aggressive, and we started to see communication issues come up in the defense. This past weekend against SMU, this communication issues were put on full display. Routinely, SMU simply caught Louisville off guard because the defensive staff struggled to get the call in in a timely manner, and players were caught in the wrong position as a result.

2. What's been the key to Louisville's success passing the ball? How has Tyler Shough unlocked the potential of this receiving corps?

He is playing exactly how a seventh year quarterback is expected to. He has an incredible command and understanding of the offense, and has great physical tools at his disposal. For starters, he’s got a cannon of an arm that he’s not afraid to utilize, but also has good touch on his deep balls and has gotten much better (compared to early in his career) about just chucking into double coverage. It’s not hyperbole to say that he is probably the best thrower of the football that Louisville has had since Lamar Jackson. Additionally, he has done an exceptional job at navigating the pocket by using his legs to extend plays while keeping his eyes downfield.

3. Louisville's defense leads the ACC in opponent third down conversions, allowing conversions on just 27% of third down attempts. How have the Cardinals been so good at getting off the field on third down?

Part of that is because Louisville’s strength on their defense is in their front seven. While the defense has certainly been imperfect, where they have done well in is in short yardage situations - which usually comes on third down. Now, if it’s third and long, Louisville has actually struggled some since they haven’t been particularly great in pass coverage at times. But their defensive lineman have done well when it comes to winning one-on-one battles against run blocking (pass blocking is a much different story), while the inside linebacking corps is great at reading and reacting to what they see in the backfield.

4. Who are the two most important players for Louisville on either side of the ball?

Offensively, it’s absolutely wide receiver Ja’Corey Brooks and running back Isaac Brown. Brooks is a former five-star prospect who began his career at Alabama, and since both him and Shough arrived on campus, they have developed an amazing chemistry. He has demonstrated multiple times that he had massive playmaking ability. As for Brown, even as a true freshman, it’s possible that he’s the fastest player on the team. He has incredible open field burners, and he is slowly starting to become more comfortable running between the tackles. He has superstar potential written all over him.

Over on defense, it’s defensive end Ashton Gillotte and cornerback Quincy Riley. The only issue is that both guys have gotten off to very slow starts. Gillotte was an All-American last season after leading the ACC in sacks with 11, but so far has just one to his name in five games. As for Riley, he led the ACC last season in passes defended last year with 15, but looked very hit-or-miss over the first three games. He’s missed the last two games with a foot injury, and it’s possible he could return this weekend.

5. What will be the biggest key for Louisville in order to come away from Charlottesville with a win on Saturday?

They absolutely have to get better when it comes to the defensive communication. On paper, this team has the talent to be one of the best defenses in the ACC. However, as previously mentioned, the coaching staff has struggled with getting the calls to the players in time, thus putting them out of position more often than they would want. If Louisville can clean this up, I feel really good about their chances.

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